Projectile



M. RADAKOVICH.

PROJECTILE.

APPLICATION msn ocT.25, ma.

Patented June 15, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

N121 J. w

CONTACT FUSE www Y M. RADAKOVICH.

PROIECTILE.

APPLICATION FILED 0701225, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIil Patented June 15, 1920.

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' to provide means whereby a plurality ofk Y aimed.

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UNITED Sil" fr clerics.-

, .MICHAEL RADAKovIoIi, for MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.Y

To all whomvz'z may] concern.' f

Be 1 known" that L'MIGH'AEL RADAKOVIGH, citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements: inv Frojectiles, of which the following A'is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in high explosive shells." f

My invention has for its primary object may be exploded within av` definite time'interval after it has been fired.

Another object of myiinvention is to uti- 'l'ze the means for connecting the high'explosive shellsto 'also hold them in spaced relation to eachother within Vthe mainxcartridge or shellwhich contains the propelling Ycharge, vwhereby Y'concussion of the shells "upon eachA other-in such a manner as to det- Vonate the charges mayE be avoided.

ln the drawings: l v

- Figure 1 is 'an elevation, partly in section, of a device embodyingmy invention. n

Fig. -2 is an elevation of the shells containing the high explosive charge,r` as they appear during their flight `through the air.

Fig. 3 is a view similar-to Fig. 1, show'- Ing a modifiedform of construction, and

Fig. el shows the high explosive shells of the Fig.V 3 type during their flight through the-air',

Fig. 5 is an end view of the .inner high ex losive shellillustratedfin Fig.` 3.

ike parts are identified by. the same reference characters throughout the several views.

In Fig. l, the cartridge comprisesl a tubular shell 1, provided with a propelling charge 2 in the rear end portion of the cartridge, this end being closed as in any ordinary cartridge. A high explosive shell 3 is nSpf'ecification of Letters yPatent.y Y Patented June 15,r 1920, Application filed October 25, 1918i Serial No. 259,709.

located within-this Cartridge :Shen-i, in frontA of the propelling charge, and prcferably contains a -timefuse, whereby it will be 'exploded within a definite time interval after it has been fired.Y Another highV explosive shell 5 is mounted inthe open` end of the shell 1with its base in substantial contact with the'nose 7 of the shell 3. The interior of the shell 3 vis providedV with a passage containing a plunger 10. The passage extends for some distance within the shell along aline parallel with the axis thereof, and 'is vthen elbowed, and extends through the `wall ofy the shell, communi- Veating with a'rchannel- 12 along the side of .the'shelh and extending along a helical line 13'-aboutthe nose thereof. The forward high explosive shell 5 kis provided with a similar passage 13 elbowed at 111-, and com- 'municating with a rearwardly extending surface channel' at 115, leading along the side of Athe shell parallel with` the axis andY through the base thereof.

' A wire cablev 17. connects the vplunger 1() 'with a corresponding plunger 20, located in the passage 13', this cable extending from the plunger 10 along. the vpassage 9 to the y' exterior, and then along the'channels 12 and .13"to the opposite side of the shell, where it enters the' channel 15, and passes into the passageY 13 toits point of connection with the plunger 20. The portion of the cable contained within the channels 12 and 15` will be inclosed by the wallsofthe outer or ycontainer shell' 1, and this will have a tend-V ency to hold these two shells in spaced relation to each other, while the shells are within the outer container and. preventl ex- -cessive pressurev by `the rear shell 3 upon' the base of the forward shell, but as soon as the shells leave Ythe muzzle of the gun, the

Yair reistanceV willhave a Vtendency to sepa? rate them, and during ,the final portion of the vflight ofthe shell they will tend to assumethe position in which they are illusstill 'somewhatin advance ofthe other.

It will, of course, be understood that owing to the fact that the two shells are connected with'each other, the connection will also serve as an agent of destruction during flight. As soon as one of the shells explodes the other shell will be released, and in view of the fact that the contact fuse 10ov Vtrated in Fig. 2, although'not vnecessa-rily Vparallel with each other, since one may be regulates one explosion, whereas the time fuse regulates the other, the two shells will not ordinarily explode simultaneously.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4, and, it will be observed that the construction is similar to that disclosed in Figs. l and 2, the outer shell 1"L being the same in form, and inclosing the propelling charge 2a. In this construction also, two high explosive shells 3a and 5L1 are arranged in tandem, but instead of connecting them by the cable, as disclosed in Figs. l and 2, I connect them bya set ofV rods 25 and 26, one'rod'26 being preferably located along the central axis common to the two shells, within a tube 28 prepared for that purpose. A plurality of rods 25 are grouped around this centrally disposed rod, and all of the rods may be provided with plungers or piston shaped members 80 and 3l on their extremities,

In this construction, the two shells will travel to their destination in tandem, the

whereas for short ranges the constructionV shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is preferred, because of the additional destructive effect produced Y by the transversely disposed connecting cable. The rods also serve as spacers more effectually than Vdoes the cable, shown in Fig. l, during the time that the shells are being fired, z'. e., duringthe expansion of the charge 2a. At this time the ends of the rods are at the extremities of the tubular passages, or cavities, prepared in their respec tive shells to receive them. Y

It will be understood Vvthat by providing one of the shells with a contact fuse, and the other with a time fuse,the shell withthe contact fuse will, of course, explode upon impact, and inasmuch as the two shells are Y connected, the force ofthe explosion will necessarily drive the other shell away from th'e point where the first explosion takes place, the shell with the time fuse exploding therefore at a point which has not been devastated by the explosion of the irst shell.

Further, it is obvious that if the condition f of the ground, Vby reason of Vmoisture or otherwise, should be such that the Contact shell failed to explode, the other would not be affectedby thecondition of the ground,

Vbut would explode at the expiration of the period Vof time determined by the time fuse. This explosion would, of course, tend to also explode the Contact shell.

In this construction as in that shown in Figs. l and 2, I preferably make one of the highexplosive shells with a ltime fuse, and the other with a contact fuse,4 the one with the contact fuse being preferably located in advance of the other one.

I claim l. A projectile' comprising the combination with a set ofY high explosive shells, of a spacing connection between the shells having' its end portions anchored within the rear portions of the respective shells, each Vshell beingprovided with an elongated interior chamber within which the anchorage portion of the flexible connection may slide to allow the shells to separate from each other to a distance equal to the sliding movementsV of the anchorage members after the shells have been discharged from the gun.

2. projectile comprising the combination with a set of high explosive shells, each provided with an elongated chamber in its rear portion, and a flexible spacing member having enlargedend portions slidingly anchored in said elongated chambers, Vand adapted to allow the shells to be'fired from a gun with the spacing member substantially inclosed within the shells while allowing the shells to separate in the air at a distance lequal to the movements of the anchor- Vtion of a'set of high explosive shells, one

provided with a contact fuse and the other with a time fuse, and a spacing connection between the two shells, composed of a fiexible member slidingly connected with the respective shells.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

MICHAEL RADAKOVICH. i Witnesses:V

LEVERETT C; WHEELER, '.O. C. WEBER. 

